First Covid-19 vaccine in Catalonia to be administered at l'Hospitalet de Llobregat nursing home

The first people in Catalonia to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on December 27 will be Feixa Llarga nursing home residents and staff in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, a city neighboring Barcelona to the south.

The Catalan health department, which is prioritizing the elderly and their carers in the first phase of the vaccine roll-out, will also begin administering vaccines in other health regions on Sunday.

The other care homes where inoculations will begin that day are Nostra Senyora de Ribera in la Pobla de Segur; Balàfia I in Lleida; Mercè in Tarragona; Natzaret in Móra d'Ebre; Font de Capellans in Manresa; Mil·lenari in Ciutat Vella, Barcelona; Sabadell Gent Gran, and Creu de Palau in Girona.

Catalonia will be receiving 1,595 doses this weekend and another 60,000 on Monday which will begin to be administered on Tuesday. 

In fact, the Catalan health department will be sent 60,000 doses every Monday, which will then be administered every Tuesday.

Authorities expect to be able to administer 700,000 doses among Catalonia's nursing homes and health care professionals by the end of the first roll-out phase in March, after which the next target population, people 80 and over, will be vaccinated.

Inoculations give "grounds for hope," said public health secretary Josep Maria Argimon on Thursday.

Yet, authorities continue to urge caution, especially as holiday season gatherings could be the source of more infections, and herd immunity is not expected before the end of 2021.